The mum of a teenager who was brutally drowned in a bathtub 24 years ago has died. Tributes have been paid to Margaret Bates, from Mottram in Tameside, who died in hospital just before Christmas at the age of 65.
In 1996 her daughter Kelly-Anne Bates was 17 when her much older boyfriend James Smith drowned her in a bathtub, Manchester Evening News reported.
During the three weeks leading up to her murder he had tortured and stabbed her in the mouth, face and body. As he attacked her Kelly-Anne pleaded for her life in vain.
Smith, then 49, was sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 25 years behind bars. He becomes eligible for parole next year.
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